LIRR Workers Threaten Strike

John MittySunday, February 2, 2014

For commuters on Long Island, March may not be a month to look forward to. Workers on the Long Island Rail Road are tired of going without a contract, and say that they are going to go on strike next month if the MTA doesn’t do something about it. Union leader Anthony Simon announced, “We don’t want to go there, but it’s going to happen March 21 if they do not move forward.”

What changes are union workers looking for? A federal panel recommended to the MTA that workers be given retroactive raises going back to 2010, and also that they receive raises for next year up to 1.5% of their salaries. This is 6% less than union leaders requested. Additionally, the panel recommended that workers be required to help pay for health plans. This was also something that the union didn’t request, “And yet, we’re willing to accept these recommendations,” stated Simon. The MTA however says that it is financially too unstable to support even this minor raise. The last time that there was a strike by LIRR workers, it took place twenty years ago and lasted for two days. The MTA has not made any statements about what they intend to do.

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